It was found that the fetuses of puppies would react to touch or pressure from the outside of the mother’s abdomen. It has been theorized that since puppies have such a well-developed sense of touch at birth, the sense of touch would also be well-developed before birth. Studies have found that “when a pregnant animal is petted her litter is more passive, according to Fox, this facilitates relaxation, emotional attachment, and socialization. Other studies have indicated that puppies that receive outside contact I.e petting of the mother, while in utero have a higher tolerance for touching than puppies who receive no contact at all.
One could think that petting the mother’s abdomen gentle help to facilitate positive, beneficial. Through the first two weeks of a puppy's life, also known as the neonate period, puppies learn simple associations. However, experience events are unlikely to carry over into later periods.
Studies show that puppies in the neonate period do not seem to learn by experience. It is theorized that this is due to the fact that the puppy’s brain, sense, and motor organs are still undeveloped. Based on its limited ability to sense and learn it would be difficult to affect the puppy psychologically, either in a positive or negative sense.
The next period of development is known as the socialization period. This period begins around 3 weeks old and ends around 12 weeks old. The main feature of this period is social play. Social investigation, playful fighting and playful sexual behaviour are all very important to developing social relationships during its life. New behaviour patterns are directly influenced by the puppy’s contact with its mother and other puppies in the litter. During this period puppies develop social relationships, with other puppies as well as with people. However, there is a point at which the puppies can increase a fear of strangers. At 3-5 weeks of age, puppies will happly approach strangers. Shortly thereafter stranger evasion begins and slowly escalates until it peaks around 12-14 weeks of age.
Teething
Between three to six months of age, a puppy begins to get its adult teeth. This period can be quite painful and many owners do not recognize the natural need to chew. By providing specific chew toys designed to ease the pain of teething like frozen nylon bone, attention can be diverted from house old furniture like table legs. Many people also use a bad-tasting, bad-smelling spray on favorite items, such as shoes, furniture, or even wallpaper, to discourage chewing. Bitter apple is a commonly used spray, but there are several commercial sprays available. Different sprays work better for different applications, owners, or puppies.
While the natural fear of strangers could serve as a way to keep a curious puppy away from predators, it can also hinder normal relationships with people. During this period, startle reactions to sudden movement and sounds develop. This serves to help the puppy learn to differentiate between dangerous and safe or insignificant events. During the socialization period, the development of attachment to certain locations occurs. This is displayed by an great disturbance in the puppy whenever a change in location occurs. This is known as localization. Localization often peaks in puppies between 6-7 weeks old, and then tapers off after that time until a change in location is no longer distressing to the puppy.
Dogs that are handled and petted by humans regularly during the first eight weeks of life are generally much more amenable to being trained and living in human households. Ideally, puppies should be placed in their permanent homes between about 8 and 10 weeks of age. In some places it is against the law to take puppies away from their mothers before the age of 8 weeks. Puppies are innately more fearful of new things during the period from 10 to 12 weeks, which makes it harder for them to adapt to a new home.
